This is the folk edition of the lists I make to keep track of my own preferences and possibly make diehard fans of the genre cry with my apparent ignorance and incorrect opinions. There may even be some crossover with my black metal list, because I live for the thrill of committing horrendous musical crimes.

Disclaimer: All of my lists are based solely on my enjoyment of the albums in comparison with the rest of the band's discography. They are NOT based on: popular opinion, an album's consistency with the rest of the bands discography, or an album's originality.

Nightwish, Dimmu Borgir, Septicflesh and their respective clones are not welcome here. The title is a bit misleading since none of these albums are 'symphonic metal' per se, but they're metal with symphonic/orchestra elements added in a way that's unconventional, or at least as far as I know. Suggestions welcome.

If you're like me and can't sit still with just one or two genres, perhaps you'll find some ideas in this list. I kept the variety with genres, but also by including all worthy bands from unknown newcomers all the way up to big names. Basically, everything I liked this year.

Since there are so many genres here, don't get too worked up about specific rating and placement. They're generally in order, but more importantly they're all amazing.

I usually do not like this kind of list because everybody has different tastes and nobody can match completely the taste of somebody else.
Anyway here comes my Top 21 Metal Albums of 2011. Why 21? because it sounds better for 2011...
I did not listen to everything in 2011, I will certainly discover some new good albums of 2011 in the next few months of 2012. But as I have started now, let s go for this Top 21 Metal Albums of 2011!

Purely subjective list based on personal preferences for the year, unrelated to mass opinion of an album or a band's abilities (e.g. Trivium, Oranssi Pazuzu) - many albums lined up to listen to so will increase in size. Also, not entirely in order, middle order mainly just an approximation.